I've only used mine for about four sessions--an average of about 5 steeps for the sencha, but the steeps only sit there less than a minute--and one 8 or 10 steep session with the da hong pao, but those steeps were drunk more slowly, and the total tea-in-cup minutes was probably longer than all the senchas put together.

Yay!My snowdrift has finally shown some signs of crackles. Both on the inside and outside. They are all over and visible with a naked eye but still pretty transparent. I hope they stay like that for a while as I really like pristine white color of the glaze. It shouldn't be a problem I think since I only use it with green oolongs or Korean greens.

Has anyone else seen a grid-like pattern emerge on the foot? Crazy, I know, but even crazier is the fact that I do not have one grid-like surface in my house. I've only had a handful of sencha brews in it.

Any ides?

Oh...and for the record, I have the random crackling developing on the inside.

I have some generally dark smudges on the bottom of my cup, but definitely not in a criss-cross pattern.

If it wasn't something you set it on, it might have something to do with the surface the cup was on when it was fired... sort of like that hidesuki that happens with Bizen when straw comes into contact with clay during firing...?

Well, I decided to ask Hidehisa-san at Magokorodo about my crosshatching and this is what he said,

"Since I had not seen a pattern like a photograph, I asked him the reason, having telephoned Eiichi. He performs waterproofing processing to works, after firing of a work finishes. He said to me that it was thought that the unevenness of a waterproofing processing agent is the cause in a waterproofing process.Although works are not inferior goods, if you are worrisome, please tell me about it to me. I will consult to Eiichi."

So there you have it. I'm still quite happy with the yunomi so no need to trouble Eiichi-san or Hide-san further.

Buzz Fledderjohn wrote:Well, I decided to ask Hidehisa-san at Magokorodo about my crosshatching and this is what he said,

"Since I had not seen a pattern like a photograph, I asked him the reason, having telephoned Eiichi. He performs waterproofing processing to works, after firing of a work finishes. He said to me that it was thought that the unevenness of a waterproofing processing agent is the cause in a waterproofing process.Although works are not inferior goods, if you are worrisome, please tell me about it to me. I will consult to Eiichi."

So there you have it. I'm still quite happy with the yunomi so no need to trouble Eiichi-san or Hide-san further.

That's good to know! I have the exact same markings on my kuodai as well like Chip said. Maybe it's from water, but it doesn't matter to me, adds character

Nice pictures, iannon. The network shows much more faint over here. I take it you have been drinking mostly other teas than sencha in yours?My "SnowDrift" is nowhere near this yet, but I'm working on it as we speak

On SnowDrift's glaze, the network of crackles is very "tightly knit".

The Seigan "Tempest" SO on ther other hand, has comparatively large unaffected areas between the darker lines (which oddly have a slightly pink, not brownish, tint here, Sencha and Gyokuro being the only teas I've used it with).